Ten billion euros for Cyprus bailout non-negotiable, Germany says

The European Union and International Monetary Fund's 10 billion euro contribution to the bailout for Cyprus is non-negotiable, the German government said on Friday.

Euro zone finance ministers meeting in Dublin gave political backing to 10 billion euros of loans for the island on Friday and German finance ministry spokeswoman Marianne Kothe said there were no plans or requests to raise that amount and that it was "not up for negotiation".

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Government spokesman Steffen Seibert, speaking at the same news conference in Berlin: "The international credit program of about 10 billion euros is of course very high in relation to size of the Cypriot economy."

Euro zone officials in Dublin said Cyprus had not asked for more money in emergency loans, but was most likely considering a request front load the payment of EU structural funds that come from the EU's long-term budget.